Cools and Nerds
by Aerin Skyfeather
Summary: Kiba and his friends get invited over to the Hyuuga mansion! Will hanging out with the cool kids turn out to be more than they can handle? SasuNaru, ShikaKiba and more. Contains Yaoi and Yuri. Don't like, don't read.
1. A Fateful Collision

Okay, I started writing this story a long while a go and now decided to edit and continue it.

So here is the first chapter, please enjoy ^_^

Oh and this story contains yaoi and yuri so if you don't like, or you have no idea what that means, you probably shouldn't read it.

Disclaimer: I do not, cannot, and will not ever own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does, because he's awesome.

* * *

The hallways were flooded with students. Classes were finally over for the day and the students were racing to get home. The teachers weren't much better; they quickly packed up their lessons and rushed to their cars, eager to get home of an exasperating day of attempting to drill some sense into loads of hyped-up teenagers.

The result was overly crowded halls and long- loosely formed lines waiting to burst outside of Konoha High's double doors. There was a lot of shoving and general noise involved, as was expected when roughly a thousand teenagers were cramped into a small space.

Kiba was in a rush, just like he usually was. His family owned a kennel and he had promised his mom that he'd take all the dogs on a walk after school. On top of that, he had a physics project he wanted to work on and and the newest episode of his favorite anime, a series about an ADHD ninja who had a demon bunny inside of him, was coming on later.

Kiba was a very busy guy.

Since he was in such a hurry, as soon as he spotted an opening he ran for it, trying to dart through the crowd and get on his bus. He was small, and pretty fast too, he didn't think he'd have a problem fitting through the space.

Unfortunately, there was a reason the space had opened up. He ran straight into Hinata Hyuuga, one of the most popular kids in school. Kiba fell back, barely catching his fall and landing a bit roughly on the hallway floor. Luckily, someone had caught Hinata from behind and the kids in the hallway all edged away to give her room, each of them looking concerned.

"I'm okay" she said, smiling gently. People nodded, a few glared at him as if it was completely his fault. Well, of course it was – his social status was nowhere near hers. While people would ignore his existence, or worse bully him, Hinata was well respected by everyone. She was always so friendly and innocent looking. She dressed cutely and she had tons of friends. He straightened his Star Wars t-shirt and made sure he hadn't dropped anything.

He looked back at her and noticed a pair of dark eyes staring at him intensely. He felt his breath catch in his throat. Shikamaru Nara. His heart sped up as Shikamaru looked him over, his gaze lingering over Kiba's body.

"I trust that you're okay?" Shikamaru asked, his voice was deep and smooth, a slight hint of concern evident in his tone. Kiba nodded, hoping his face wasn't too red. Shikamaru was extremely popular, not only because of his looks, which were nearly flawless, but because of his attitude.

Shikamaru was smart, it was rumored that his intelligence reached genius level. He could have gotten the best grades in the entire school if he had wanted thing was, Shikamaru Nara didn't try, at anything. He had a reputation for being lazy, he only ever did the work that he felt like doing, the bare minimum to pass. His teachers got annoyed with him, but he was too charming to stay mad at. He always looked so cool, so composed. Kiba had never once seen him lose his temper or get overly excited about something.

Shikamaru looked at him as if expecting something. Kiba noticed that he was staring, and felt embarrassed. "Are you even paying attention?" Shikamaru questioned with a sigh.

"Huh?" Kiba snapped out of the daze that the tall brunette had put him in, trying to remember what the lean boy had told him. He bit his lip absentmindedly, trying to think of a response that wouldn't make him seem like a complete idiot.

"Troublesome" Shikamaru muttered under his breath. Kiba felt a familiar hand pat his shoulder, turning to see a smiling Naruto. "Hey Kiba!" Naruto said loudly, fixing his large glasses back onto his face. Naruto looked at Shikamaru and Hinata. His eyes widened and he gawked, his mouth hanging open in amazement.

"Y-you're talking to the cool kids?" Naruto questioned Kiba in a low whisper. Kiba nodded slightly at Naruto, still mostly paying attention to Shikamaru.

"Would you two like to come over to my house this afternoon?" Hinata asked, looking down and pushing her index fingers together, "It'll be fun, you can bring more of your friends if you'd like. I really want you to come."

"Of course!" Naruto practically shouted with excitement, gaining quite a few stares from the people around them. Kiba nodded nervously, unused to these popular kids even talking to him. Hinata smiled sweetly at them as if she was genuinely happy that they were coming.

"Okay well, give me your cell number and I'll text you the details" she said smiling brightly. Kiba hastily scribbled his phone number on a sheet of notebook paper, ripping it out and handing it to her, hoping that this wasn't some kind of elaborate prank.


	2. Impatience and The Journey of the Nerds

Decided to finally come back and edit and continue this story. Cause I really like it.

Whenever I get a review it feels like a miniature Christmas w

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, I'd probably screw it up with my weirdness.

* * *

Ino glared daggers at the clock. It was actually a wonder that she hadn't burned a hold into it yet, but it was still ticking in an agonizingly slow fashion. If there was one thing that Ino wasn't, it was patient. She might be smart and she was definitely beautiful but she absolutely hated to wait for anything.

"They're late" she said fiercely, feeling the need to pace, but forcing herself to keep still, aside for playing with the ends of her long blonde hair. Her gaze flickered from the clock to the door, but only for a moment before she was glaring at the clock once again with the same intense stare.

"Relax Ino." Sasuke sighed, sitting next to Hinata on the couch.

"You know, they might not show up at all." Shikamaru said laughing softly.

"B-but they said they were going to..." Hinata said worriedly.

"Why you little..." Ino growled, getting ready to punch Shikamaru.

"You two, shut up and calm down. Ino, sit down and leave the clock alone." Sasuke ordered, glaring at them. Ino was way too aggressive and Shika just loved teasing people.

Hinata looked confused, a worried look on her face.

"It's alright Hinata, I'm sure they'll come." Sasuke said reassuring her.

'_Why are they all so annoying?'_ Sasuke thought to himself shaking his head. Ino was too loud, and Shikamaru only made things worse. The two of them fought like actual siblings. It was funny that people sometimes thought they were dating since they were always together. In reality, their parents were best friends and they had been thrown together since birth.

Hinata got worried about every little thing, and she would let people walk all over her if her friends weren't around. She was too meek and didn't know how to stand up for herself but she had a heart of gold.

_'Losers' _he thought smugly.

"Hinata, Shikamaru is just teasing you because he's an idiot. They said they were coming, and they aren't **that** late." he said pointedly still glaring at Shikamaru and Ino, who now looked like puppies getting scolded. The Uchiha glare was definitely powerful, even if they were subjected to it on a daily basis.

Ino waited till Sasuke sat back down and turned his head before making faces at him.

'_That Uchiha is so arrogant! Who does he think he is?' _Inner Ino thought angrily, _'I'll show him! Just wait until I get my hands on that jerks neck. He'll get it for making me look stupid!' _Shikamaru just looked at Ino and rolled his eyes, apparently bored with the whole thing. He hoped that those kids would show up already and make things a bit more interesting.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Neji held Kiba's phone, trying to follow the directions that had been texted to them earlier. Naruto bounced around, his mouth moving at a mile a minute, his words getting jumbled in his excitement. Neji had already tuned him out by now, as had the rest of them. It was a skill you learned pretty quickly when you were friends with Naruto. The blond tended to babble voraciously whenever he was excited or nervous. Kiba followed along behind, excited but reasonably cautious. He was nervous that this was all going to turn out to be some big prank on them.

_'Why would the cool kids wanna hang out with __us__?' _he asked himself, glancing around at his ragtag group of friends.

Naruto had on his over-sized bright orange shirt which was in a considerably wrinkled state – no doubt from being crumbled up in the dryer for too long, messily tucked in over khaki cargo pants. His hair was a spiky blond disarray and Kiba had never really seen Naruto comb it. His glasses were large and round, and almost always falling off his face. He was Kiba's best friend and almost like a brother to him.

Sakura had attempted to look cute. (and she actually might, but Kiba wasn't a very good judge since he just really didn't think of her as a girl.), She was wearing a white shirt over a skirt that seemed like it couldn't decide whether to be long or short, going a bit past her knees. Her pink hair was in a braid and she had put in her contacts instead of glasses, her jade eyes sparkling with curiosity. Even her braces matched her outfit perfectly – red rubber bands almost the exact shade of her skirt.

He sighed, knowing that he didn't look much better. He was still wearing his Star-wars tee shirt, and his jeans were so big on him that he almost kept tripping over them. They were a hand-me-down from his older cousin and he doubted that he'd ever grow into them. His brown hair was messy as usual, it refused to do anything but stick up in random directions.

Gaara looked pretty sophisticated, his dark grey colored shirt contrasting nicely with the crimson tie he wore, which nearly matched his auburn hair. He didn't wear glasses, but he always smeared on a bit of black eyeliner and his lip ring shined brilliantly in the sunlight.

Kiba sighed and looked at Neji. Neji probably was the coolest out of their group. Neji had a major component that they all lacked, well a few actually if you counted fashion sense (though Gaara had the dark look down pretty well): Neji had self-confidence.

Neji didn't make a big deal about this. It was almost as if Neji didn't care at all about the social status. He had long, smooth dark brown hair that cascaded down his back. Kiba had to admit that it was really quite pretty. The only defect of the near-flawless Neji was a wicked scar on his forehead that had been caused by a car accident when he was a small child.

When he was younger he had always tried to cover it up, resulting in much teasing and bullying from other children. After middle school he had learned to deal with it and ignored the remarks, displaying the scar proudly on his forehead. So no one really mentioned it anymore and it was all but forgotten.

A strange silence befell the group and they suddenly noticed that Naruto had stopped his yapping and stood with his mouth gaping open. Naruto suddenly stopped talking and his mouth gaped open. "Guys... are you sure we have the right address?" He asked, awestruck by the scene before them.

Kiba looked at the huge house in front of them, no house wasn't the right word... it was decidedly a mansion. He had never been to a more elegant looking house. The lawn was perfectly green, all of the grass at the exact same height as if they actually individually measured it with a ruler. The hedges were clipped into perfect conical formation and artfully placed flowers bloomed across the yard in a harmonious arrangement of color. The place was gigantic! It appeared to be about 3 stories tall, and spacious. It was something straight out of a movie about royalty

Even Neji seemed a bit affected.

"Yes, this is definitely the address." he confirmed. He never spent much time with his cousin. He actually had barely spoken a word to her in a few years. He just felt like he never had any reason to talk to her, even though they were related. She was always friendly though, if she passed him in the halls. She had always been way too nice.

"So um.. who's gonna knock" Kiba asked breaking the silence. They all looked at him, and then each other.

"M-maybe this is a bad idea.." Sakura said, obviously worried.

"Hmm maybe Sakura-chan is right.." Naruto said. After being so excited the whole trip there, Naruto now felt a bit queasy. Gaara sighed grumpily and knocked on the door.

"They're just people."He said agitatedly, though he was actually very uncomfortable with the idea of going into a house full of strangers. He didn't particularly like people or gatherings but he had been dragged along by Naruto and he had never been able to refuse Naruto anything, ever since the obnoxious blond has saved his life.

He had been in the cafeteria one day, sitting by himself and eating his lunch as per usual. Suddenly someone said something funny and he laughed which then resulted in him choking on his food. People noticed but they all hesitated, no one wanting to come near him.

Naruto had ran and jumped over two tables, knocking over quite a few people to give Gaara the Heimlich maneuver. Gaara had never met the boy in his life and yet he went out of his way to save him. Afterwords, Gaara felt obligated to him and wanted to become more like the charismatic blonde, and Naruto began to drag him to hand out with the rest of his friends. After that Gaara just became an accepted part of the nerd group.

"Well guys, prepare yourselves" Neji said softly, as they heard the sound of the doorknob clicking.


	3. Entering the Lair of the Hyuugas'

Nothing much to say...

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto is a beast. And he owns Naruto. I am very lame, therefore I am not Masashi Kishimoto which means I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Sasuke gracefully jumped over the back of the couch and arrived at the door in seconds. Most people would think that it isn't possible to go from sitting to jumping over the couch in one movement, let alone have it be graceful. Most people hadn't met Sasuke Uchiha. Almost everything the Uchiha did was smooth. Sasuke could make a sandwich gracefully, put on his shoes gracefully, even brush his teeth gracefully. Sasuke Uchiha was the epitome of grace.

He opened the door calmly, staring into the surprised faces of the five nerds.

"Hi" he stated, his face blank. Kiba looked nervously at Neji, who seemed unperturbed by this incredibly handsome stranger. Gaara seemed like he was about to crawl out of his skin, his nervousness translating into an unintentional scowl across his face.

They stood there. Sasuke looked over the nerds, frowning when he noticed Gaara glaring at him.

'_What the hell is wrong with him? Did I do something?' _He thought, a bit confused. Of course, his face was as blank as it normally was. The silence hung in the air, the tension was nearly visible. Naruto looked around, oblivious.

"Hi!" he shouted, overly loud, " This is such a big house! It's great! Can we come in? Do you have any food? I'm starving!" he exclaimed excitedly. Sakura hit him on the head, the thud resounding loudly.

"You idiot! Don't be so loud, you are SO rude!" she yelled at him, being louder than he had been.

Sasuke sighed.

_ 'Losers' _he thought, walking away and leaving the door open. The nerds simply stared at him.

"Are you coming in or not?" He said, sounding slightly agitated. They all filed in nervously, following Sasuke down the hall and through a large arched doorway glancing around at the room they had just entered.

_ 'It's even nicer on the inside!'_ Sakura thought, staring at the decadent furnishings.

The walls in the room were a pearl white and slightly iridescent with dark wood trim at the bottom and top of the walls carved into fancy patterns. The floor was intricately designed deep blue tile and there was an elaborate rug stretched across the floor. In the center of the room was a black suede couch and a loveseat facing a massive plasma screen tv. There were a few other seats in the room including two armchairs that matched the couch as well as a cream colored chaise lounge. In front of the couch was a white marble coffee table that looked incredibly sturdy. There was a mahogany table in the corner with a large arrangement of lovely fresh flowers.

There were fancy bronze lamps but most of the lighting came from fixtures on the ceiling and from the wide windows that lined one side of the room. The windows were currently open letting in a pleasant breeze, the light blue curtains dancing in the wind.

Ino watched them as they gawked over the house.

_ 'Are they even going to say anything to us, or just stare like idiots?' _Ino thought, getting annoyed. Hinata smiled at them warmly

" Hello everyone, I'm so glad you came!" she said, her voice ringing sincere. Kiba felt a bit of reassurance, but immediately felt his heart start racing again as soon as he met a deep chocolate gaze. There was something so intense in the way that Shikamaru looked at him that he felt warmth start to rise to his cheeks and swallowed hard, trying to clear his mind as well as the knot in his throat.

"H-hello and thanks for having us over" he said, nervously.

"There sure are a lot of you" Ino said sounding unintentionally rude.

"How's it going?" Shikamaru replied lazily, still gazing intently at Kiba.

Naruto was still gawking at some painting, barely paying attention to the cool kids. Sakura elbowed him in the side, a little harder than necessary.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and answered his previous question.

"If any of you are hungry, there's plenty of snacks in the kitchen." he said, not bothering to point them in the direction of the kitchen.

"Alright!" Naruto yelled excitedly, zooming off in a random direction. Sakura just shook her head, watching him run off.

"Well, I guess um... my name is Kiba Inuzuka" he said quickly, feeling nervous.

"Sakura Haruno! So nice to meet you all!" she said smiling, "That idiot who just ran off was Naruto."

"Gaara" the red haired boy stated, not making eye contact.

"Neji Hyuuga, though you are likely already aware of that." Neji said stoically.

"I suppose we should introduce ourselves" Sasuke said, not making any effort to sound friendly, "I'm Sasuke Uchiha" Hinata stood up and walked over to her guests.

"My name is Hinata Hyuuga, I'm so glad you could all come here today" she said, bowing even though it wasn't necessary.

"WHERE'S THE KITCHEN?" Naruto yelled from across the house.

"What a loser" Sasuke said under his breath, walking off to go help Naruto.

"Shikamaru Nara, Shika if you prefer." he said coolly, his gaze still intense.

"Ino Yamanaka, don't get on my bad side. I have a temper." Ino warned.

"Yeah we noticed" Sakura mumbled, low enough to not be heard by anyone other but Gaara.

Naruto came back into the room, plate full of food, closely followed by Sasuke.

"Hey guys! They have all sorts of food! There's so much and it's all delicious!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. Gaara noticed Sasuke trying not to smile. Naruto looked around nervously for a place to sit, everyone had already sat down. Sakura motioned him over quickly so he wouldn't have to stand like an idiot.

"Naruto, sit down!" she whisper-yelled at him.

"Where?" he whispered, looking panicky. Sakura looked around and then quickly pulled him onto her lap.

"Sit here for now." she whispered, hoping they wouldn't get any weird looks. Especially from Sasuke.

Sasuke stretched across the chaise lounge and tried his hardest not to stare at Naruto and that girl. He really wished that he had made it more clear that there was more space available on the lounge. That kid, how was he so cute? So innocent, so annoying, but still adorable.

Naruto looked at him questioningly, his head tilted and his glasses falling off his face. Sasuke blushed slightly, trying to hide it, before anyone noticed.

_ 'Damn kid, why does he have to look at me like that!' _he thought angrily. No one had this effect on him! He was an Uchiha, he didn't fall for anyone.

"Well I guess Lee isn't coming..." Hinata said sadly.

"Lee, as in Rock Lee?" Neji asked suspiciously.

"Um..yes Neji-niisan" Hinata answered, still slightly surprised that her cousin had came. Neji groaned inwardly. Lee was his science partner. It always wound up with Neji doing all the work and Lee babbling on about something. Neji was okay with it though because if Lee did try to help, it would usually end in disaster. He remembered a particular time when Lee had accidentally lit the classroom on fire. More importantly he had almost lit the end of Neji hair on fire. And nobody, nobody harmed Neji's hair.

_ 'Well at least he isn't coming.'_ Neji thought, shaking his head.

"Nii-san? Wait are you two related?" Naruto asked, being the slowest to catch on. A collective sigh was heard around the room and Sakura actually face palmed.

"She's my cousin Naruto. Why else would we look so similar? And have the same last name?" Neji asked, annoyed at the blonde's stupidity. He was certain Naruto is were the term 'dumb blonde' originated.

Kiba fidgeted nervously. He sat next to Neji on the couch, but he could still feel Shikamaru watching him from across the room, his gaze was nearly tangible. He accidentally glanced at Shika quickly, just to confirm his suspicion. He felt himself get trapped by a pair of serious, dark eyes. Shikamaru smiled seductively and Kiba felt his breathe catch in his throat, resulting in a cough. Kiba quickly turned away, trying to calm down his rapidly rising heart rate.

_'He's just another cool kid! I can't let him intimidate me.' _He thought, still catching his breath.

The door swung open, a guy with black shiny hair and a green long-sleeved shirt walking into the room.

"Aw the joys of youth" he said, flashing a sparkling smile and posing with his hand on his hip and a thumbs up.


	4. Teeth, Glaring, and Decisions

For those who have been reading this story,

AT LAST, it continues!

I'm sorry for all of you who had to wait , Hopefully it was worth it.

I went back and edited the three previous chapters so you can go back and read them if you like and they shall hopefully sound exponentially better.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Naruto, then I could afford my bills.

* * *

The nerds stared at the bright and exuberant newcomer who stood posed in the archway, his smile sending off intense beams of shine. Kiba felt himself momentarily blinded and blinked rapidly, trying to clear his eyes. Gaara glared at the brightness, certain that he had seen the boy's teeth literally sparkle.

_'Is that even possible?'_ he questioned himself, not wanting to say it out loud.

"Holy cow!" Naruto exclaimed loudly pointing at Lee for a moment before his hand was pulled down by Sakura. 

Ino laughed. Lee was the poster boy for perfect dental care. It had taken her months to get used to that radiant grin and when she tried to achieve the same startling whiteness, she had failed. Lee refused to share his secrets, saying only that he took care of his teeth the same as anyone else did. Ino did everything, she brushed her teeth 5 times a day, used whitening toothpaste, strips, and mouthwash, skipped her usual morning coffee, and still her smile lacked the wattage that Lee's carried. She soon gave up and went back to normal, glad to have her coffee back. Of course, everyone else was happy too. Ino without coffee = bitch.

"Lee, could you at least knock?" Sasuke asked, detached. He really could care less, Lee was always annoying him some way or another and he had learned to simply cope with it.

"I am sorry my most youthful friend, I was training after class with Gai-sensei, the most amazing and dynamic teacher of them all." Lee answered again, still sparkling. Sakura stared at him dazedly. She vaguely remembered him from middle school. Back then he had followed her around and left love letters in her locker. He had also had the most ridiculous outfit and a black bowl cut that had marked him as a definite weirdo.

He looked better now, His hair had grown out a bit and was pushed out of his face. He actually looked pretty good. The only green he wore now was his shirt which was a definite improvement from his favorite middle school outfit of green pants, a green shirt and orange shoes. Sakura figured that he was colorblind. Still, she didn't regret not dating him, even if he was now one of the cool kids. She had her sights set on someone else.

"Hey! I know you. You're bushy brows from gym class!" Naruto exclaimed again.

Lee blinked a few times at the nickname but casually accepted it.

"Oh how careless! My name is Rock Lee, it is a pleasure to meet all of you." he said enthusiastically, albeit a bit loud. They repeated their names again for him, except for Neji. He sighed, really wishing that Lee had not shown up. He really didn't particularly dislike Lee, actually it was the opposite. However, he did not want the boy to know about his feelings yet, he would prefer to wait until they were no longer lab partners. He really didn't need any distractions that could wind up with his hair set on fire or dipped in any chemicals.

"Oh..Lee, Naruto, I'll get you two chairs." Hinata said, noticing their lack of seats.

"I'll help Hinata" Ino said getting up behind her. Sakura watched, getting the impression that wherever Hinata went Ino wasn't far behind. She wondered if maybe there was something between them. She grinned evilly hoping to finally have some information to use against Ino-pig.

Kiba still seemed a bit disoriented and he was aware that Shikamaru had gone back to watching him. Kiba was beginning to get really nervous. After all, he was still afraid that this was some sort of plot to prank them horribly. And maybe Shikamaru was only pretending to be interested in him so that he could crush Kiba horribly.

Shika got up and walked over to the recently vacated position on the couch, sitting down next to Kiba. He patted him on the head, causing Kiba to stare at him quizzically.

"It's okay, Lee has that effect on people. You get used to it, well for the most part." Shikamaru said reassuringly. Kiba almost laughed, wanting to say that it wasn't the bright smiled guy that left him nervous and dazed. Instead he simply smiled up at Shikamaru, who still hadn't removed his hand from Kiba's hair.

Hinata and Ino came back carrying what appeared to be fancy kitchen chairs and set them down by the couch. The boys immediately sat down and Hinata sat back down on the couch while Ino glared at Shika who had taken her seat. She moved to the other side of the room and sat on the arm chair by Sakura.

_'Interesting'_ Sakura thought, observing her actions. Ino and Sakura had once been best friends, back in elementary school. In middle school Ino had become a cheerleader while Sakura joined the science club. They drifted further apart until they never saw each other at all. Now that they had been pushed together by their friends Sakura was a bit upset that Ino hadn't even tried to talk to her. So she wanted revenge.

"So what do you guys do for fun around here?" Naruto asked bluntly, becoming bored with the small conversation. He was barely able to keep still and he started to bounce around on Sakura's lap, ending him a slap to the side of the head which knocked him off of her and the chair.

Sasuke snorted, before glancing around nervously, hoping no one caught that. Gaara cracked a smile at him, letting him know that he knew. Sasuke glared menacingly at the red-head, though it seemed to have no effect.

"What, are you complaining?" Ino asked annoyed.

"Um... W-well what do you want to do?" Hinata asked hesitantly. Shikamaru smirked and stretched, looking incredibly hot.

"Well there's lots of things we can do...' he said flirtatiously, trailing off and looking directly at Kiba, his eyes scanning the small boys form, his hand still in Kiba's hair.

Kiba blushed furiously at Shikamaru's tone. He may have been a nerd but he knew when someone was being a sexy flirt.

Lee poked Sasuke in the stomach, causing the Uchiha glare to be turned in his direction

"What?" the Uchiha snarled.

"You looked upset." Lee answered as if that justified his action. Sasuke simply heightened his glare powers until Lee backed away.

He attempted to not glance back at Naruto.  
"We have video games and movies, and a game room, or we can go outside. We can play soccer or spar or tag. Whatever you guys want to do." He said with forced politeness.

When the word 'spar' dropped from Sasuke's mouth nearly all of the nerds frowned, knowing that they weren't quite physically fit for such a thing. None of them worked out and they were... wimpy, stringy, and had no endurance power, as Sakura would have put it. Sakura was actually probably the strongest among them. She was taking some martial arts and had a really mean punch, often Naruto was at the receiving end of it so he could vouch.

"What do you guys usually do?" Naruto asked in a moment of calm pondering. He sniffed and his glasses slipped down his nose. Sasuke couldn't tear his eyes away from the adorable boy, his Uchiha resistance to cuteness was not strong enough. Gaara watched him curiously.

Sasuke glared at Gaara once again, trying his best to threaten him using only his onyx eyes. He did not want anyone to know that he liked Naruto, that stupid little cute fox boy. Surprisingly to Sasuke, seafoam green eyes glared back at his own with an intensity just as fierce, if not more so. This definitely confused Sasuke, making his eyes widen slightly.

"Well, why doesn't everyone just split up and do what they want?" Hinata said innocently.

"Sounds like a plan" Neji answered.


	5. Confrontation!

And on to chapter 5!

Woot, I'm actually really excited.

I really enjoy working on this story and I hope you will enjoy reading it.

Disclaimer: I still cannot claim ownership of Naruto.

* * *

The teenagers all nodded in agreement to Hinata's statement. It was, of course, the diplomatic answer and it seemed to please everyone, as was Hinata's specialty. Now the biggest problem was all of them deciding what they wanted to do.

Gaara was happy that there would be less people around and hopefully that black haired guy with the duck ass hair would leave him alone. He didn't like people paying too much attention to him, especially glaring at him and he had hoped that by glaring at the Uchiha the boy would leave Gaara alone. So far no such luck. The onyx eyed teen was now watching Gaara closely, as if he was some kind of threat or a predator encroaching on his territory.

"Kiba, are you okay? You're all red." Shikamaru teased, causing the blush too intensify on the freckled boy's cheeks. His wolf like eyes surveyed Shikamaru nervously, still not trusting.

"Shika, quit scaring him! You have no manners." Ino scolded, her hands on her hips.

"Looks who's talking" Shikamaru retorted, rolling his eyes. Ino began approaching him with killer intent until Hinata grabbed her arm softly. Her angry look dissipated and she faced Hinata with a gentle smile. Sakura grinned maliciously from the corner. She definitely had dirt to get back at Ino now.

Naruto bounded over to Sakura, holding a small plate towards her.

"Sakura-chan, look it's you favorite!" he exclaimed, holding out a chocolate covered strawberry to the pinkette. She smiled and leaned toward the delectable desert, taking a bite out of the luscious strawberry. She hummed appreciatively and took the plate from Naruto.

He gave a fox like grin and bounded off towards the kitchen again, which had apparently become his favorite part of the Hyuuga mansion.

The look on Sasuke's face could have melted an iceberg. If only they had him with him on the Titanic.

He was barely concealing a boiling rage, and he nearly snapped when he noticed Gaara snicker.

He walked over to the darkly dressed red head and grabbed his arm roughly.

"Can I talk to you for a moment? Alone." he said, his eyes turning into slits. The way his voice sounded it was evident that it wasn't a question and he dragged Gaara off before he gave the boy a chance to answer.

Lee watched the spectacle with wide eyes. He rarely saw his youthful black haired friend so angry, unusual indeed. The others barely spared a glance but when Naruto came back from the kitchen he looked around questioningly.

"Gaara and Sasuke have left to go join in youthful conversation." he said, trying to reassure the blonde.

Strangely, it had the opposite effect. Naruto's face fell a bit before he pasted on a smile, this time obviously fake.

"Oh, well that's great!" he said with forced enthusiasm. He set down his plate on the coffee table and Lee pondered his strange behavior.

Neji glanced around with a blank face. He hadn't really said much during there time here. He had always been more of the quiet type anyways. He sat along the sidelines and watched as the fuming Uchiha pulled Gaara into one of the many guest rooms. He wondered when chaos was going to ensue. Sasuke was famous for his glare and temper and had supposedly never lost a fight, except for against his older brother. Gaara on the other hand was the boy who most people shied away from. There were rumors that he was unstable, that he had nearly killed some kid back in middle school. However there was no proof of any sort and Neji thought Gaara was okay. He'd be quite annoyed at the Uchiha if he did anything to hurt the pale red head.

"So what do you want to do Hinata?" Ino asked her, trying her best to ignore Shika. He really was annoying sometimes.

"How about a movie?" she said shyly, hoping that someone else would make the choice. She really hated feeling selfish.

Sakura walked up and picked up a dvd case, perusing it carefully only to set it down and repeat the process with another. After a few repetitions she held up a case victoriously.

"I've wanted to see this forever!" she exclaimed handing the movie to Hinata who smiled warmly.

Lee glanced at the cover, making a face.  
" No thank you, it does not appear to be a film I would enjoy." he said politely.

The movie was definitely a chick flick and he didn't want to stick around and watch it.

"I believe I shall go outside and get some fresh air." he said, his expression full of youth and vigor.

"I shall join you Lee." Neji said, calmly standing up and following the Lee down the hallway.

"Why don't you and I go play?" Shikamaru asked Kiba, his breath tickling Kiba's cheek.

"Um..sure I guess." Kiba answered hesitantly.

"I'll go too!" Naruto said boisterously.

Shikamaru sighed. Having Naruto come along was definitely not part of his plan but he really couldn't tell the blonde kid no. He'd just have to come up with another strategy to get Kiba alone.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Sasuke practically dragged Gaara into the room before letting him go, closing the door behind them, the lock clicking into place. Gaara backed away warily, looking rather like a cat backed into an alleyway. His muscles were taught and his back curled forward, his back almost pressing against a dresser the leaned up against the wall. He felt like he was about to have a panic attack and his heart threatened to rip itself out of his chest.

The Uchiha looked menacing, standing tall and dark in front of the doorway. He hadn't turned on a light so his face was half cloaked in shadow, only adding to his imposing figure.

"Tell me. Are they or are they not?" he growled.

"I don't know what your talking about Uchiha." Gaara answered icily. He refused to let this man intimidate him.

Sasuke took a step closer but Gaara held his ground, straightening his spine and standing at full height. Of course it didn't help that the Uchiha was several inches taller than him and more muscular. Gaara was thin, almost painfully so but Sasuke was a healthy weight, definitely not heavy but not nearly as twig-like as Gaara.

"Naruto and Sakura." Sasuke stated with a hiss.

"Speak in complete sentences Uchiha. Or maybe you were too busy sucking Professor Orochimaru's dick to learn how to." Gaara spat, regretting his words the minute he said them. Gaara really wasn't supposed to know about that and he had made more trouble for himself by mentioning it.

Sasuke grew livid and shoved Gaara against the dresser, slamming his hands against the wall on either side of Gaara's head.

"I don't care who the fuck you are or how you know about that but I don't need to explain myself to you. All I need to know is if Naruto and Sakura are dating." he said gritting his teeth, and trying to hold his temper at bay.

"Why? So you can hurt Sakura?" Gaara asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I don't give a fuck about Pinky." Sasuke growled.

"You think Naruto would want you?" Gaara snarled defensively. He really didn't want Sasuke near either of his best friends, he quite frankly hated the Uchiha's guts.

"I. Just. Wanted. To. Know." he simmered, his voice clipped.

"Well, what if I just so happened to tell Naruto about that little incident with Orochi-sensei?" Gaara threatened, his green eyes burning furiously.

"Then I'll make you wish you were dead, Sabaku." Sasuke warned his face dangerously close to Gaara's.

"I'm not afraid of you Uchiha" Gaara said coldly; he was bluffing a bit, the Uchiha probably could beat the crap out of him. But if there was one thing Gaara had learned about people in his 17 years, was that you never showed them when you were afraid.

The glared at each other for a while, both of them raging.

"You should be Gaara, you should be." Sasuke whispered, turning on his heel and flinging the door open gracefully and gently shutting it behind himself, leaving the red-head alone in the empty room.

The misanthropic teen slid down the dresser and shook violently, reaching in his pocket for his inhaler.


	6. Lizards and Tomatoes

Chapter 6!

Okay, sorry if any of you are mad at me for the last chapter.

I'm not going for any Sasuke-bashing here, just following my muse.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Nope. Not at all. Not even a tiny bit.

* * *

Neji admired the garden. It had been a few years since he had been to this house but nothing much had changed – it was still as elegant as he remembered. Trees gently swayed in the light breeze, leaves dancing over the cobblestone pathway, a sweet fragrance filling the temperate air. It was a pleasant day, white puffy clouds lazily drifted across the sky, the sun veiled behind them, peaking through to create dilapidated shadows.

It was the beginning of autumn and the leaves were just beginning to turn yellow; the weather had not yet taken on a chilled tone. It was Neji's favorite time of year, a calm time: lacking both the frigidity of winter and the oppressive summer heat. He glance at the dark haired boy next to him who was busy observing a lizard. When Lee tried to pick the lizard up it would run just out of his reach before standing still again. No matter how many times Lee tried, the lizard stayed just out of his grasp.

Neji had to smile; the frustrated pout on Lee's face was simply adorable.

'Wait, adorable? Since when is Lee adorable? He's always obnoxious and loud and annoying...' Neji thought scolding himself for the thought before he was interrupted by Lee.

"Neji, I caught it!" he exclaimed loudly, holding the lizard up to Neji, smiling widely with a genuine sense of accomplishment. Neji couldn't help but smirk. If Lee wanted to do something he would not give up until he succeeded; he was the hardest worker Neji had ever met, even if he had trouble getting things right on the first try.

Nevertheless, Neji couldn't help but tease him. It was one of his favorite pastimes. For some reason the dark eyed smiling boy would always come to Neji to show him an accomplishment. With anyone else it could have been viewed as bragging but Lee really just wanted people to acknowledge him. He always gave his best effort and Neji admired him for it. However, he really liked seeing Lee's reactions when Neji refused to give him credit.

"And? Now what are you going to do with it?" the brunette asked, his eyebrows raised with amusement. Lee pondered it for a moment, looking at the lizard that he held cautiously in his hands. He could have probably caught the lizard much with less difficulty but he had been very careful not to injure it. Lee had a penchant for animals and they in return seemed to flock around him. Neji still remembered the incident with the squirrel...

"Would you like to hold him Neji?" Lee asked, eyes wide, holding his palms out towards the other boy.

Neji looked at the lizard caustically. He did not particularly like reptiles, however he did not want to disappoint Lee who was looking at him so earnestly. It never occurred to Lee that other people did not share his love of lizards and squirrels and all small creatures. At least he wasn't as bad as Shino, a guy in their class who had a tarantula living in his jacket. Neji HATED spiders.

He tentatively reached out and took the lizard from Lee's hands, their skin brushing briefly, just enough to send a burst of warmth up Neji's arms. He frowned, and the lizard crawled around on his palms for a moment. Lee flashed a brilliant smile causing Neji to squint at it's brightness. The lizard quickly seized the opportunity, jumping out of Neji's hands and into a bush. Neji scowled at the lizard.

'Fine, leave I never liked you anyway filthy reptilian' Neji thought.

Lee simply shrugged and continued walking down the path.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Naruto pressed buttons furiously, his tongue caught between his teeth in a look of concentration. His glasses had slipped off of his nose to land on his lap, but he had not given up. He and Shikamaru had been battling for the past ten minutes but Kiba really didn't mind, it was fun to watch his best friend and the composed Shikamaru battle it out. Shikamaru flashed a smirk and Kiba was certain that his blonde friend was done for. Instead the fox-like boy grinned wider, pressing a series of buttons that caused his ninja chick to do a low-kick, back-flip and then land on Shikamaru's ninja chick's neck, ending with a slash to the throat.

"Dammit, he's good." Shikamaru said, setting the controller down and putting his hands behind his head and leaning back on the couch. Naruto jumped up in the air, controller in hand. With a loud victory yell, he jumped over to high-five Kiba, instead misjudging his distance and barreling into him, causing them both to land on a heap on top of Shikamaru.

"Ow..." Naruto said, rubbing his head which had collided with Kiba's elbow. Kiba's head was in Shikamaru's lap and he quickly climbed off, blushing furiously while glaring at Naruto. Shikamaru just chuckled, watching as the blonde apologized fervently.

"I'm sorry for landing on you Shika.." Kiba said.

"Don't worry about it; besides, I didn't mind that much" the playful brunette answered with a wink that set Kiba blushing again at his implications.

Naruto watched them both for a moment until something clicked in his brain.  
"Hey, I'm gonna go see how the others are doing...um have fun." he said rushing out, giving a final wink to Kiba before he closed the door.

Kiba looked up at Shikamaru who stared back at him hungrily.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sasuke stepped out of the room calmly, his face a cold mask, his eyes shining with tears that would never be shed. After all, he was an Uchiha, and Uchihas NEVER cried. It didn't matter if Gaara knew his worst secret, the thing he was most ashamed of in his entire life. He could have defended himself, told Gaara what really happened, tried to get his sympathy but, he was an Uchiha. So of course, he didn't open up and talk about his feelings. That would be showing too much weakness.

He passed by the living room, earning a worried glance from Hinata, and a raised eyebrow from Ino. He grunted and kept walking, turning down the hallway too quickly to see Naruto get up and sneak after him. He unlatched the front door and stepped outside, closing the door as gently as he could manage although he wanted nothing more than to slam it off it's hinges and drive off. However, he did not want to cause as scene, because if Sasuke hated anything, he hated causing a scene.

A blonde head peeked through the doorway, followed by a scrawny orange-clad body. Sasuke glanced over, hoping whoever it was wouldn't stick around. He was surprised when he was met with sapphire eyes and a fox-like grin.

"Naruto." he said plainly. It was enough of an invitation for the blue-eyed boy and he plopped down next to Sasuke on the driveway, the pavement slightly warm beneath his hands and bare feet.

He held out a plate to Sasuke and the onyx eyed guy smiled, a barely perceptible raise of the corner of his lips.

"Thanks." he said, taking the plate of tomato slices out of Naruto's hands. There was a little cup of ranch dip, some potato chips and a few stuffed olives accompanying the tomato slices, causing his mouth to water.

"Hinata told me I should bring you something if I wanted to sit with you, like a peace offering." Naruto said grinning widely. Sasuke shook his head, amused. Hinata knew him too well; he had a hard time refusing anything when tomatoes were involved.


	7. Laughing at Nothing in Particular

Sorry it has been so long. A lot has been going on and I feel really bad for neglecting my writing.  
Anyway, though many of you have probably given up on this story, thanks to anyone who is still reading.  
Anyway, here is the long overdue chapter 7!  
Enjoy.  
Disclaimer: Despite a great deal of time passing, still have not come any closer to owning Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does and probably always will.

* * *

Kiba sat on the kitchen counter next to Shikamaru, swinging his legs. He gnawed on a chicken leg as if he was a dog, and Shikamaru resisted the urge to scratch him behind the ears. Although Kiba would probably enjoy being scratched behind the ears, it would make for a very strange moment afterwards.

As soon as Naruto left, Shikamaru's stomach had growled, quite loudly. Kiba blinked and chuckled, and the awkwardness he felt dissolved as he rolled around on the couch, howling in laughter at Shikamaru's perplexed face. The two had then decided to make a trip to the kitchen and grab some snacks.

Apparently at the Hyuuga mansions, snacks meant a full course meal made up of leftovers. There was chicken and steak and potatoes and vegetables and bread and – it was like an all you can eat buffet, just less crowded and the food was AMAZING. Naruto wasn't even exaggerating (which was a very unusual occurrence) the food really was superb. Shikamaru was munching through apple slices, glancing at Kiba through the corner of his eye.

Shikamaru was plotting. Since his flirtations in the video game room had failed he needed to strategize a plan to get him and Kiba alone. He popped another apple slice into his mouth, recalling the locations of the people in the house. He could see Neji and Lee through the kitchen window, they were still out in the garden enjoying the fresh air. Gaara and Sasuke had went off into one of the bedrooms, Shikamaru didn't know which. From the looks on their faces Shikamaru didn't want to take Kiba anywhere near them. Hinata and Ino were in the living room, watching their chick flick.

"So Kiba, what do you want to do?" Shikamaru asked, deciding that it was the safest choice.  
Kiba looked thoughtful for a moment. To Shikamaru this answer was an important part of his strategy. If Kiba wanted to do something with the others then Shikamaru would have to ease up on the flirting and try a slower approach. If he wanted to do something with just Shikamaru, then it would be a perfect opportunity for Shikamaru.

"I guess we can go back to playing video games, I mean if you want to..." Kiba said, unsure.  
"Sounds perfect." Shika stated with a sly smirk.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Hinata yawned, snuggling against Ino's shoulder. Ino didn't mind, afterall she'd do anything for Hinata. She was very protective of Hinata, sometimes she felt that it was too much. But that's what best friend's were supposed to do, right? It wasn't like Ino did anything normal best friends wouldn't do. At least that's what she told herself. Sure, she thought Hinata was beautiful, so did everyone else. Just because Hinata was themostamazingfreakingorgeous person Ino had ever known, that didn't mean anything right?

Hinata was comfy. So comfy that she found herself falling asleep. She had always felt comfortable around Ino, so safe, like she didn't have to worry about anything in the world. She drifted off, forgetting about all the guests in her house.

Sakura was barely watching the movie. It wasn't that it wasn't good (despite having an incredibly predictable plot the characters were quite interesting) she was too busy watching Hinata and Ino. She could tell by Ino's face, the way she smiled sweetly down at the raven-haired girl on her shoulder, that Ino and Hinata did not have a normal friendship. The only thing was, she wasn't sure if they were even aware of it. If they were just trying to keep it a secret then she could blackmail Ino **so hard**. However, it could just be one sided, in which Sakura could blackmail Ino **so hard**. Either way looked good for her.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Naruto sat next to Sasuke on the driveway. Naruto traced patterns on the concrete with his toes, drawing pictures to keep his mind from jumping around all over the place. ADHD had given him a tough time throughout the years, and he refused to take the medication the doctors had prescribed him. He had taken the stuff for a few months and he would never take it again. It made him sick. He would get horrible headaches, he lost a lot of weight to the point of being anorexic, he would snap and feel irritable for no reason at all; worst of all he had no will to do anything. It was like it sapped all of his energy, he did not feel at all like himself. So he stopped taking it.

Sasuke devoured the tomato slices in what could almost be considered an ungraceful fashion, which was absurd, he was Sasuke UCHIHA after all. Everything he did was done with grace and control, so he slowed down in his tomato gorging. The appearance of the blonde boy had helped him almost forget about the incident earlier, until he heard Gaara's words echo in his head.  
_'You think Naruto would want you?' 'What if I just so happened to tell Naruto about that little incident with Orochi-sensei?'_

Sasuke frowned at the ground, his stomach twisted into a knot. All of a sudden, his tomatoes weren't so appealing anymore and he felt sick. He had tried so hard not to remember that incident, tried his best to forget it ever even happened. Now he couldn't help but thinking about it.

"So what's bugging you?" Naruto asked, his face serious. Sasuke looked over at him and then looked down.  
"You know, I've always looked up to you." the blue eyed boy stated loftily, looking up at the sky. Sasuke turned to face him, surprised.  
"You're always so good at things, you don't even have to try. Sports, academics, making friends, everything you do is just so...cool. You even walk cool. I guess I've always been a bit jealous." Naruto sighed, not looking at Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't imagine. He'd never thought Naruto was beneath him. He'd admired the younger boy's determination. To him, Naruto shined. He was never good at anything on the first try but he tried harder than anyone Sasuke had ever met.

Sasuke smiled, unnoticed by Naruto who was still looking at the sky.

"You forgot graceful." Sasuke grumbled quietly. Naruto looked over at him and burst out laughing, holding his stomach and falling back on to the concrete. And Sasuke decided to let go of his worries, if only for a little while.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o


	8. Green Causes Problems

Well, I'm not dead, though I came close.  
But here's another chapter of my favorite story to write.  
Enjoy.

Disclaimer: 8 months later and I have made no progress :C  
Masashi Kishimoto has made lots of progress. It is a good thing that he owns Naruto.

* * *

The garden was quite large, as Neji expected. He leaned back into a bench, a small smile lightening his otherwise serious face. He was content with the serene atmosphere, the gentle autumn breeze. The sky was deep blue, clouds floating by. He was content with the silence, even though he knew it would only last momentarily. Lee would soon be back from the bathroom and he was certain he'd be hauled off to go look at another flower or bird's nest or worse, insect.

But he couldn't say he minded Lee's presence. Sure the green-clad boy was loud, obnoxious, oblivious, reckless, and overall annoying, but for some reason, Neji always found himself on the verge of smiling when he was around him.

Neji shrugged, closing his eyes against the cool air that gently caressed the strands of his hair, lifting them up and apart, splaying them about. Neji gave a relaxed sigh, his thoughts beginning to wonder aimlessly, letting all of his burdens escape him like birds freed from their cages and ferried away by the wind.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Gaara opened his eyes, feeling like he was composed enough for people not to notice how shaken he'd been. He knew he should have kept his mouth shut, known he should have calmly just told Sasuke "No" since he had known from the beginning that all Sasuke wanted to know was if Sakura and Naruto were dating. But he had to go and lose his temper. He wasn't proud of it, the whole thing could have gone a lot smoother if he had just answered the Uchiha instead of provoking him. He could have said no, Sasuke would almost smile and thank him, and Gaara would have been just a bit closer to making another friend.

Instead he had to bring up that one incident.  
It all happened because Gaara had forgotten his pen. Normally, a student would not go back to class just for a pen, but it was Gaara's favorite pen. It was **GREEN**.  
Who would want someone else to pick up the coolest mint green ink pen in the world? So he walked back into the school, even though pretty much all of the students had already gone home. Did he miss the bus? Yes. Did he care? Not really. He would just call his older sister and make her pick him up. She'd grumble but Temari loved him.

When he got to the classroom, he noticed the door was locked. Which wasn't too unusual. He figured the teacher had already gone home. But the light was on in the classroom. So the teacher had either forgotten the light or was still in the room. Gaara didn't want to knock on the door if no one was there (cause he would feel stupid, obviously) so he did what any sensible person would do – he looked through the window.  
Which he immediately regretted.

But he really could have just kept silent about seeing Prof. Orochimaru's dick in Sasuke's mouth. After all, it really wasn't any of Gaara's business what Sasuke liked to do in his free time. Even if what he liked to do was blow creepy old dudes to get better grades.

He sighed, still sitting against the dresser. Why couldn't he be more like Naruto?  
If he was friendly and happy and inviting he could have friends, and be accepted. All he had to do was smile, and say hello and not provoke people.  
Gaara looked into the mirror in the room and attempted a smile, but it looked more like a grimace. He quickly changed back to his default expression. Maybe there really was no hope for the redhead.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lee bounded down the hallway, eager to go back outside. He thought he had seen a spider web outside and he wanted to examine it's architecture. He wondered if Neji would find it interesting and almost ran into Ino, who was carrying a sleeping Hinata.  
"Oh I am sorry, my lovely young friends, I shall have to exercise more care..." he started loudly, Ino cutting him off with a quiet angry shush. Hinata barely opened one eye, then snuggled into Ino's boobs, causing the blonde to blush pink.  
Lee nodded and moved out of the way, letting the girls pass by him.

He continued walking down the hall and got pulled into a dark corner, almost yelping before a hand came over his mouth.  
"Quiet, it's Sakura." the pinkette whispered, gently releasing him.  
"What are you doing?!" Lee whisper yelled. He was not happy she'd grabbed him like that, he almost accidentally punched her in the face. Then again, she was a pretty skilled fighter, she probably would have blocked or dodged.  
"I couldn't see you were in the way, what happened, how did Ino look, which way did they go?" Sakura questioned hurriedly, her voice still low.  
He turned, and peeked around the corner. Ino was standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking conflicted.

He quickly relayed the story to Sakura who nodded.  
"Well then, good luck on your youthful mission, I am going back to enjoy the fresh air" Lee stated, too loudly. Ino looked back and Sakura quickly yanked Lee back into the corner.  
Ino shrugged and turned back around, carrying Hinata up the stairs.  
Lee and Sakura were a press off tangled limbs, pushed against the wall. Before they could pull apart. A nearby door opened and Gaara walked out.  
His eyes widened as he saw his friend trying to push Lee away from her.  
Without hesitation the livid redhead punched him in the face.


	9. The Pink Puppies of Shame

And then Gaara punched him in the face! Sorry, just a recap.  
Man, I love this story.  
To be honest, I have no more idea what is going to happen than the readers D:  
I'm just making this shit up as I write.  
So, I guess we'll both see what happens.

Disclaimer:Yeah, I really don't own Naruto. For cereal.

* * *

Sakura wasn't proud to admit she just kinda stood there and watched for a minute.  
Lee recovered quickly after Gaara slugged him, hopping up to his feet and kicking the redhead hard in the stomach. Gaara lurched forward but his anger quickly made the pain dissipate, and he came up swinging, his fist connecting with the green-clad boy's jaw. Lee was about to slam his elbow into the side of Gaara's head when Sakura clicked into action, jumping in between the two boys.  
Lee, whom had had years of kickboxing training, immediately stopped his arm about two inches from Sakura's head. Gaara, who was just a really angry guy, trying to protect his friend, couldn't pull his punch back in time. His knuckles skid across Sakura's cheek, as she leaned back to avoid the worst of the blow.

The three of them just stood there in silence, breathing heavily.  
"What the hell is going on?" Sakura questioned, her teeth grit tightly to prevent yelling.

The boys glared at each other.  
"Well, it's his fault." Gaara stated, his voice as calm as ice.  
"My fault? You started it!" Lee shouted, his fist aimed towards Gaara's face.  
Sakura shushed both of them and dragged them off, really not wanting to get kicked out of Hinata's house for causing a scene.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"You done?" Shikamaru asked, turning his head to look at Kiba.  
"Yeah, I'm good." Kiba answered with a smile.

After losing every round of Super Smashing Brawlers, Kiba really didn't feel much like playing anymore. The game room didn't have the same feel as it did when Naruto was here. Now the whole room seemed entirely too big. Who really needed to have three 60 inch plasma tvs to game on? The lineup of consoles was impressive, but he had never really figured Hinata to be a gamer. Also the addition of a pool table, air hockey, and a poker table seemed excessive.

Kiba glanced at Shikamaru, who was getting up to turn off the game. Despite the largeness of the room Shikamaru had sat right next to Kiba on the couch, their knees brushing against each other on occasion. Now Kiba didn't like to jump to conclusions, and he didn't want to make a big deal out of nothing, but it seemed to him like Shika was flirting with him. Which of course was ridiculous. For one, Kiba was a nerd. This was a solid and confirmed fact. He had always been a nerd and knew that he would always be one. It had all started when he was just a little tyke.

(Oh goodness, a flashback!)

Elementary school. 4th grade. Kiba was very excited for school. This year was gonna be fantastic!  
He had gotten all of his school supplies, backpack, pencils, markers, crayons, paste, folders, notebooks, lunchbox, oh yeah, he was set. And the first day of class was great! He liked his teachers, the other students were all friendly, and then it was time for lunch.  
Lunch is when it happened. The moment that ruined Kiba's reputation for the rest of his life.  
His class sat down at their table, and most of the kids got up to go buy cardboard pizza, mushy green sludge, and chocolate milk that was the school lunch.  
Kiba put his lunchbox on the table and the class went silent. Then the laughing started.  
Kiba was confused, he looked around and realized HE was the one being laughed at. People were staring at his lunchbox. Kiba really liked his lunchbox. It was pink and had puppies on it.  
Oh goodness, now they were even pointing! Kiba shrunk down in vain to try and avoid the ridicule.

"You're lunchbox is for sissies!" "Wow, I guess Kiba is a giiiiiiiiiiirl!" "Aw, Puppy Boy is gonna cry!" The kids all shouted.

It then reduced into chanting "Puppy Boy! Puppy Boy!"  
Kiba did what any 9 year old boy would do. He sat and cried until the teachers got the kids quieted down.

(Back to the present)

Ever since that terrible day, Kiba had been mocked and permanently labeled as a nerd.

Therefore logic dictated that Shikamaru who was super cool would have no interest in Kiba aside from maybe bribing Kiba to do his homework. Which as smart as Shikamaru was didn't seem very likely. The second reason Shikamaru couldn't like Kiba was cause Shikamaru was ohmygoshincrediblyattractive . Kiba was kind of a scruffy cute at best. Oh yeah and the third reason was that they were both guys. Which kind of confused Kiba. He didn't think guys were really supposed to like guys. But then again, Kiba didn't pay much attention to things other than dogs and cartoons, so he could be wrong.

Shikamaru smiled, his mind moving at a million miles a minute.

'Okay Shika, you can do this, you're a genius. How hard can it be to get one guy to notice that you like them?' he thought to himself. Of course, it was turning out really difficult. Kiba wasn't seeming to catch on to any of his hints. And to make matters worse, Shikamaru kept getting interrupted every time he tried to say something to Kiba. Sure, he knew he shouldn't try to rush things and should just be patient and take things slow. That was the logical part of his brain thinking. But he was a teenage boy! Teenagers are not exactly known for their patience and finese. So he wanted to get Kiba to like him NOW.

It wasn't as if Kiba was pushing him away, so Shikamaru figured that the boy was either 1)really shy, 2)really oblivious, 3)a bit of both.  
So perhaps he should try a more direct approach! Yes that could work. Well, it could also not work and scare Kiba off and Shikamaru would never see him again, but he was really hoping it was the first one.  
"Hey, why don't we play a different kind of game?" Shikamaru asked, leaning in closer to Kiba. Kiba blinked but didn't pull away.  
"Sure, I mean, what did you want to play? They have an air hockey table, I'm pretty good at that and..." Kiba said, trailing off when he noticed the space between him and Shikamaru disappearing. Suddenly the room felt very very small. Kiba was kind of nervous and his heart was beating really fast. Shikamaru was only a few inches away now.  
"HEY, YO SHIKAMARU, you and your boyfriend out of my game room, I got friends coming over!" a girl ordered. Kiba kinda freaked out. He backed up from Shikamaru, jumped off the couch and yelled as he ran out the door, "I NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM NOW!" He ran past a girl who looked like a miniature Hinata with attitude, stopped, bowed, and continued running.

Shikamaru just kind of sat there and watched, in shock.  
"You've got weird taste Shika." Hanabi stated

"Yeah, whatever." Shikamaru said, turning away and walking out of the room, hiding the blush across his cheeks.


	10. Accidental Destructive Tendencies

Oh gosh, the drama!  
Hey guys, I'm still here, and with another update!  
This was typed on the college library computer with me nervously looking over my shoulder at the old guy behind me while I was typing about boobs. Seriously guys, I was freaking out, cause I'm retarded.  
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the terribly weird story plot. I don't even own this computer.

* * *

Ino had set Hinata down on the bed. Now, that was fine, Ino was going to go down stairs and see what everyone else was up to, they had been making quite a bit of noise and Ino wanted to make sure that nothing bad happened to the house. After all, she felt somewhat obligated to take charge since Hinata was asleep. So Ino's plan was perfect and she was gonna get everyone to calm down and shut up.

But then her plan was ruined.  
Hinata wouldn't let go of her. Her arms were still wrapped around Ino's neck and when Ino tried to get up, she was pulled onto the bed, on top of Hinata. And then she completely forgot about her plan.  
'Omigosh, I should get up, what if she wakes up oh, gosh that would be so embarrassing.  
But man, she's really comfy, this is nice, maybe I should just stay here for a while.  
No! what am I thinking, she could actually blush to death!  
Oh god, boobs.  
Do not squeeze them Ino, don't do it.  
But they're right there!  
Maybe just a little...  
No! I can't do that she's sleeping!  
But they're so big!  
A little boob squeeze between friends is no big deal right?'  
Ino tried to think of an instance where friends of the female persuasion squeezed each other's boobs.

She couldn't think of any. So Ino did her best to shift so she was next to Hinata and not right on top of her, where the boob-squeeze-urge was too powerful. So then she was lying next to the most beautiful girl in the world and trying to keep her hands in appropriate places. It was simultaneously awesome and very not awesome.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Sakura yelled at the two boys. Lee was looking down at the spaces between his shoes and Gaara was staring of at a tree, a nervous scowl on his face. Sakura had dragged both of them outside to try and disturb less of the household than they already had.  
"Look at both of you! You're all bruised up and for what reason?" Sakura huffed, feeling angry and confused. She wanted to defend Gaara, he was one of her best friends, but at the same time, he was the one who had come in swinging. The boys looked around sheepishly, each one trying to cast subtle glares at the other Which was very hard to do, while an irate girl was staring you down, waiting for you to speak.  
"If one of you doesn't answer me I'm going to beat the pulp out of both of you!" Sakura yelled fists clenched. Sakura didn't exactly have a lot of patience. But she did have quite a lot of anger.

Neji looked over at the yelling girl and the two boys, deciding he should go over and try to prevent any more violence.  
"What is going on over here?" Neji asked, eyebrow raised quizzically.  
"Neji! She's so scary!" Lee yelled, running and pulling the brunette into a hug. Neji's eyebrows looked like they were about to fly off his face. He was very surprised and confused. In shock he gently patted Lee on the back, which seemed to be enough. Lee let go and circled around so he was behind Neji's back, peeking over Neji's shoulder as if the long haired boy was an impassable wall between him and the furious woman.  
Sakura and Gaara stared at them in bemusement. Somehow Lee had managed to defuse the situation, leaving everything somewhat awkward and a lot less violent.  
"So what is going on here?" Neji questioned, trying to regain his composure.  
"Well, um… I don't really know." Sakura answered honestly, "Lee and I were in the hallway and kindastalkingInoandHinata and then we had to hide 'cause Ino turned around. But then Gaara came out of nowhere and punched Lee in the face. And it kinda went from there."

Neji looked at each of them and assessed the bruises. It was a fight that none of them had really won.  
Lee had bruising along his jaw, Gaara was kind of bent over his stomach a little painfully, and Sakura had a deep purple bruise blooming across her cheek. This would be a fun one to have to explain.  
"Gaara, why did you attack Lee?" Neji asked looking at the shamed redhead.  
"He was… it looked like he was attacking Sakura." Gaara muttered, shifting his feet.

He felt embarrassed that he had jumped to the wrong conclusion and Sakura had wound up hurt because of it. He wanted to run and go crawl into the nearest hole, hiding his shame from the world.  
'Having friends means you have to learn to deal with messy situations, Gaara. But those friends will stick with you through everything and help you conquer your biggest fears.' Gaara thought, remembering the words his sister had said to him. She was right (as was usual.)  
"I...I apologize for hitting you Lee, I should have tried to find out what was going on before I acted." Gaara choked out, doing his best to speak. Sakura put her hand on his shoulder, and gave him a small smile filled with encouragement and pride. Gaara was learning.

"Now Lee, apologize for hitting Gaara back." Neji prompted, looking over his shoulder at the wide-eyed boy.  
"But..." Lee trailed off, seeing the glare that Neji had pointed at him.  
"I'm very sorry Gaara, I should not have jumped into combat and instead should have tried to reason with you." Lee said solemnly, looking rather like a puppy getting scolded.

"Okay, we'll see you guys later then." Neji stated, dragging Lee with him to avoid the awkwardness of post-apology. Sakura waved goodbye to Neji and Lee and she and Gaara started to walk in the other direction.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Naruto sat on the warm concrete, babbling on, explaining his theories about Konoha High School. Sasuke was mostly quiet, but every once in a while Naruto would catch him laughing softly under his breath. They both felt comfortable, sitting close to each other on the driveway. If Sasuke had been brave enough he could have reached out and grabbed Naruto's hand. Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he had wanted to hold someone's hand. Or really hug someone. Or pin them down to the driveway and start making out...okay well that one happened more often than not, but he was a teenager, dammit! It could not be helped.

Naruto picked a piece of grass, twirling it between his fingers.  
"Hey, you didn't just rip that grass off the lawn did you?" Sasuke questioned seriously.  
"Well, yeah, it's just grass." Naruto shrugged. Sasuke feigned a look of horror. "Naruto, you've ruined the lawn!" Sasuke gasped.  
"What? B-but it's just one piece of grass!" Naruto defended uncomfortably.  
"Yeah but they'll notice!" Sasuke claimed.  
"OH GOD, WHAT SHOULD I DO? They're gonna have me executed! I bet they have a dungeon in their basement, the police are never going to find me body! Sasuke you've gotta help me!" Naruto panicked, flailing around and trying to put the piece of grass back into the lawn were he had gotten it, grabbing Sasuke by the shoulders desperately.

Sasuke couldn't help it. He fell back on the pavement, laughing until his eyes watered. Naruto's jaw dropped, his eyes wide in disbelief. The realization that Sasuke had played a trick on him dawned but he was too shocked by the sight of Sasuke laughing to get angry. Sasuke got up and wiped his eyes, trying to regain his composure, but he couldn't wipe the smile off his face.  
"Jeez Sasuke, you're a jerk." Naruto said, playfully shoving the other boy. Sasuke smirked.  
"Well, it's not my fault you're so naive, idiot." Sasuke joked, playfully shoving Naruto back.  
Naruto blushed, grabbing the plates and taking them to the kitchen to hide his embarrassment.  
Sasuke opened the door for him, and followed the blonde into the kitchen.


End file.
